University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Completes Second Scrimmage, Bower Pleased With Offensive Improvement
4/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Football Completes Second Scrimmage, Bower Pleased With Offensive Improvement
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss football team held the second scrimmage of the spring season on Sunday, working through a two-hour practice at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
Southern Miss Head Coach Jeff Bower was pleased with the offensive improvement this time around, after a dismal performance in the first scrimmage had him a bit disappointed.
"It went better in some respects," Bower said. "We made a lot of plays and made some big plays. We had chances to make many more big plays and didn't, but it was much better than the other day. We didn't do a good job of taking care of the football, and that was the biggest negative."
The scrimmage was the second of three for the spring season. The Golden Eagles went through various situations, including third-down and overtime scenarios.
"Offense had the better day as far as moving the football and making plays," Bower said. "The best thing we did on defense was to create turnovers, but we gave up too many yards rushing and too many good plays."
The offense finished the day with two scores, one in the regular session and another in overtime situations. Quarterback Dustin Almond connected with Chris Johnson for an 18-yard score in the first series, and then capped off the day with a 6-yard scoring pass to Anthony Harris in the overtime period.
Offensively, running backs Larry Thomas and Cody Hull continued to share the majority of the snaps for the first team, with Hull leading the way with 59 yards on eight carries. Thomas added 26 yards on nine attempts. Harris also had three rushes, finishing with 11 yards. Against the second and third team defenses, Tony Miner chipped in with 55 yards on 12 carries, while C.J. Barrows added 31 yards on 11 rushes. Cole Mason added 22 yards on four attempts.
Almond improved on his numbers from a week ago, finishing 9-for-19 for 112 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Jeremy Young finished the day 6-of-12 for 80 yards, including a 46-yard connection with Shawn Nelson, and Travis Clark went 5-for-12 for 44 yards and had one interception.
Johnson led all receivers with three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown, while Tavarres Williams added two catches for 43 yards. Nelson and Josh Barnes also had two catches each, for 54 and 11 yards, respectively.
On defense, Darrell Bennett led first unit with seven total tackles, three of them being solos. Kevis Coley added five total stops and had a sack for a safety, while Naton Stewart added four assists. Gerald McRath had seven tackles in the second unit, while Chaz Richards added five stops. Robert Henderson and Lance Moore each had four tackles. Trevis Coley and Ladarius Webb both had an interception, while Webb and Shadler Manning had fumble returns for touchdowns.
Darren McCaleb finished the day making good on two of three field goal attempts, connecting on kicks from 47 and 36 yards out and missing from 36. He also was 2-of-2 in extra points.
The Golden Eagles now take Monday off before opening the final week of spring work on Tuesday. The spring season concludes with the annual Black and Gold Spring Game on Saturday, April 16.
